Halo: The Secret Spartans
by ExceptNotReally
Summary: After World War III, a scientist put six soldiers in cyro-sleep along with herself. Over 500 years later, the soldiers are woken up to partake in her top secret program that puts Dr. Halsey's work to shame. Get ready to kick some Covenant ass!
1. Chapter One: Unleashed

His eyes flashed open. He turned his head, shaking off the extreme stiffness. The cryo-chamber door opened and he carefully stepped out, stumbling a little as he shook off the cold, stiff joints that resulted in the cryo-sleep.

"Field Major Tyler Clough. Welcome back, sir," a voice said from the observation platform. Tyler looked up and the one-sided glass shifted for him to see a medical staff employee operating the controls while Dr. Annastasia Harris stood smiling, hands clasped behind her back. It was then he realized he was naked.

Tyler quickly covered up his private area and blushed. He shuffled over quickly to the dressing area and put on one of six black bodysuits that was waiting for him. He then headed up the stairs and joined Dr. Harris as the rest of his team emerged from their cryo-sleep.

"It's a pleasure, sir," she said, walking over to meet Tyler, hand outstretched.

He shook her hand and replied, "Likewise, ma'am."

She smiled back and went off to assist the medical employee with the remaining team. Dr. Harris had always been attractive. She had shoulder length, red hair and big brown eyes. She was a little short, had a great smile and a generally attractive personality. It had been ten years since Tyler and his crew had last seen her. That was right before they had entered their cryo-sleep. It wasn't the first time they had gone into cryo-chambers though. All in all, they should have been long-since dead, but the cryo-chambers and their military status saved them.

Tyler and his crew were born before the year 2000 and were forced into the army during World War III. They excelled as a team and were eventually promoted to higher ranks. They were also enlisted by Dr. Harris, who became a skilled scientist during the war, into a special program. She was centuries ahead of Dr. Halsey's spartan program. The only problem was time. The invention of the cryo-chamber for use strictly by military personnel was soon enacted, and Dr. Harris' group was enlisted for a long-term sleep. The team was awoken only once before, in 2522, to see Dr. Harris off to fulfill her dreams with her secret spartan program. He checked a calendar on the wall. It read; "July 2532."

"It's the 19th, by the way," Dr. Harris said, smiling as she continued her work. She was thirty-one years old now. Tyler and his crew were in a range of twenty to twenty-two years old.

By that point, three of Tyler's five men were heading up the stairs in their bodysuits. The other two were just being let out.

Taylor, Taquiyy and Derek walked up the stairs.

"How have you been? Have a good nap?" Taylor asked, smiling. He walked up and shook hands.

"Yeah. How 'bout you?" he asked.

"Pretty good. But then again, you know me...I can sleep through anything," Taylor chuckled back.

"Taquiyy, Derek. It's great to see you guys," Tyler said, turning to them and shaking their hands as well.

"Same here, man," Taquiyy said.

"Ditto," Derek said, following Taquiyy as he walked off.

After a few minutes, Jared and Veejay headed up the stairs and greeted Tyler with the same humorous ways the rest of the gang had.

Tyler turned and observed his crew. Taylor had matted-down, short brown hair. Taquiyy, who was African-American, had a short-cut afro style black hair. Derek had short spiky brown hair. Jared had red-brown hair that reached down to past his ears. Veejay was the shortest of the bunch in height and had his signature "rat-tail" ponytail. In terms of everything else, the team was pretty much clones from the neck down, especially in the black bodysuits.

"Men. It's been ten years since we were last out of the cryo-chambers. It may seem like a small amount of time compared to our first cryo sleep, but believe me, the world has changed. I'm not even fully sure what to expect. We're in a top secret, heavily classified, spartan program run by our very own, Dr. Harris," Tyler took the time to nod in her direction then continued, "Soon, we'll be suiting up. Each of our suits works to our own, personal skills and abilities. We will be able to run faster, jump farther and fight better. Now, I'll hand the honors over to Dr. Harris."

Annastasia Harris stepped over and smiled to the group as Tyler took his place among his men. He had medium-length, brown hair and bright, blue eyes that glowed in the dim light of the observation platform.

"Hello everyone. It's great to see you all again. I hope your rest was pleasant, but we have things to do. Very important things, at that. So, let's go. Please follow me," she said, turning and stepping into another room with six small "pods." Each pod had lots of mechanical arms surrounding it. Tyler looked around at his men and met everyone's gaze with the same level of confusion.

"These are a variation on the cryo-chambers," Dr. Harris said, gesturing to one of the pods, "They don't function to keep you preserved, only to put you asleep long enough to place the armor on. Now, the armor itself is somewhat...painful, to remove. However, you will be able to open your visors and remove your helmets with no problem. The Mark VII as I currently call it, is lightweight and extremely durable. Your shields are built in to provide protection against medium-range rocket launcher fire. When your shields go down, they will recharge within a few moments after the suit stops taking fire. You will also have enhanced abilities such as," she lifted a clipboard up and read the list off to the team, "...enhanced strength, enhanced agility and acrobatics, enhanced survivability, enhanced speed and enhanced accuracy. As well as the tools necessary to hack into high-security terminals and other forms of both human and covenant technology."

Dr. Harris looked up and said, "Anything I might have missed?"

"Do we get an AI unit?" Derek asked.

"Unfortunately, no. An AI unit would require extremely high-level security pass codes that only certain members of Naval Intelligence have the ability to hand out," she responded. "Any other questions? No? Alright then, get in your pods boys."

The men took their individual pods. Dr. Harris made two trips around to check on the pods mechanical components to be safe.

The first time around, Taylor stuck his head out and said, "Hey, maybe we can get a cold one after this? Sound good to you?"

"No thanks. I don't date my work," she replied, without stopping.

On her second trip around the pods, Taylor tried again, "Come on. You...me...a bottle of champagne. I know you want to." He smiled and tilted his head jokingly.

"If you promise to leave me alone afterwards, then, sure, why not," Annastasia said, then she turned to the staff and shouted, "Start it up!"

The staff started pressing buttons and the pods closed and filled with a white-blue gas. The mechanical arms entered each pod as the men drifted off from the effects of the gas. The only one that didn't nod off was Tyler. He stood firm as the components were placed on him. It was definitely painful. The gas wasn't just for putting people to sleep. It was also intended for multiple enhancements delivered directly to the person's body, not the suit. Tyler occasionally grunted and bit his lip as the suit was put on him, and the gas altered his own genetic code.

It was hours before the suits were on the men, and they stepped out of their pods, looking rather good in their spartan suits. Their helmets were waiting for them on a large, metal table in the corner. Each person had their own service tags inscribed on their suits for ID purposes, but the HUD in their helmets also had the ability to point out each person's location, as well as monitor all sorts of other things.

"Everyone set and ready?" Tyler asked his men.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they shouted, simultaneously.

"Good, let's move out then. I believe we already have a mission. Isn't that right, Dr. Harris?" he said, turning his head to her.

She only nodded and bit her lower lip. On the inside of Tyler's visor was a message. The message was an alert. Covenant forces were attacking the base. It was time to break in the new suits.


	2. Chapter Two: First Encounters

"There are brutes heading down to the labs! How would they know we're down here?" one of the staff shouted, turning to Dr. Harris with a clearly nervous look.

"I'm not sure," she turned to the team, "But it doesn't matter. We have them," gesturing to the new Spartans.

"Alright team! Private Jared Oleksiak ! You and Sergeant Derek Dussault take the East Wing! Sergeant Taquiyy Elliot! You and Captain Taylor Savoie take the West Wing! Lieutenant Veejay Strama, you're with me. We're gonna get Dr. Harris out of here," Tyler said, tossing weapons to his troop.

"Can I escort Dr. Harris to evacuation, sir?" Taylor inquired.

"Fine. Go with Veejay. Taquiyy, you're with me then. Everyone, get off your lazy goddamn asses and go!" he shouted.

Everyone took off in their respective directions. Derek and Jared headed to the East Wing elevator, Taylor and Veejay started escorting Dr. Harris and the other personnel to the hangar for evacuation, and Taquiyy and Tyler set off for the West Wing elevator.

The moment Derek and Jared's elevator hit the top floor, they met Covenant forces. It was only jackals and grunts though. They opened fire with their plasma pistols. Derek and Jared charged forward, bashing the grunts with the ends of their guns, saving their ammo for the jackals. The bullets tore into the jackal's plasma shields until they overheated and shut down. After that, they were easy one-hit-kills. It wasn't long before Covenant corpses were piled on top of each other in the hallway.

Jared and Derek continued down the path, winding through complex corridors. Occasionally running into a few grunts. Nothing too big...yet.

It was much different for Tyler and Taquiyy, who were currently pinned down in the courtyard. A few marines had joined up with them and were helping, but there were too many brutes. The brutes' spikers tore through the marines pathetic armor and punctured their organs.

"Spike grenade!" Taquiyy shouted as one whizzed past his head and stuck onto the leg of a passing marine. The grenade exploded and the marine's leg was instantly filled with searing hot shrapnel. He let out a scream as blood poured from the wound. Taquiyy rushed over to help him while Tyler continued to fire on the brutes. Then they both heard a sound, a very, very, very bad sound. It was a Covenant Phantom-class drop ship, and it was hovering right above the courtyard, ready to drop Covenant troops right on their heads.

"Move! Move!" Tyler shouted, running towards the first door he saw. Taquiyy abandoned the dying marine and followed his Field Major in close pursuit. "Quick! Get the door open!" he shouted again, tossing a fragmentation grenade as the brutes emerged from the Phantom. Taquiyy rapidly set to work on hacking the door. It wasn't more than a few seconds before it slid open with a "ping" and the two of them ducked inside. "Lock it up now! They won't give up that easily!"

Taquiyy input a few commands into the panel on his arm and the door turned red, signaling a successful lock.

"Hey, something's coming up on my HUD. It's Derek and Jared!" Taquiyy exclaimed, looking down the hallway. Sure enough, the two swung around the corner and stopped suddenly.

"Do not, go that way," Tyler huffed, "That's an order." Then he took the lead as the rest followed behind him.

"What now?" Derek asked.

"This base is done for. We need to meet up with Taylor and Veejay in the hangar," was Tyler's simple response. No heavy explanations, just straight to the point.

The path to the hangar took what seemed like forever, but it wasn't over yet. The elevator wasn't working.

"Oh fucking great! Just fucking great! That means we have to backtrack! Can't believe this shit!" Taquiyy cursed.

"Calm down man, I'm sure it won't be that long," Jared said reassuringly.

"Hey guys. Where'd Tyler go?" Derek asked, looking around.

Suddenly, a noise came from the elevator shaft and a voice said, "You ladies gonna quit your bitchin' and come on? I don't have all day!"

The three looked into the elevator shaft to see Tyler, shimming down an elevator cable on the far side. They took turns jumping across, which was pretty hard because this particular elevator was actually pretty big. Then they all slid down to the hangar.

All they could hear when they touched the ground was gunfire, and lots of it too.

"Split up! Find the doctor!" Tyler shouted, running towards Taylor and Veejay, who were near a destroyed Pelican, firing on an insane number of brutes and two hunters. The doctor wasn't anywhere to be seen and Veejay was holding his right side.

"What happened?" Tyler screamed.

"They took us by surprise. They killed the personnel while we were running to the hangar. When we got here, we tried starting up a Pelican, but Dr. Harris was in the control booth. Oh God, they took her! Those fucking brutes took her! It's all my fault, too!" Taylor cried out, gasping for air.

Taquiyy attended to Veejay's needler wound quickly with a dose of bio-foam while Derek and Jared opened fire on the approaching troops. Tyler looked around the hangar and saw a single transport Warthog, sitting in the corner in pristine condition.

"Everyone, get to the Warthog!" Tyler shouted.

"What about Annastasia!?" Taylor burst out.

"I'm sorry, Taylor. We'll get her back, don't worry. I promise you," he replied quickly before sprinting full speed to the Warthog. "Derek, you're driving. I got shotgun, the rest of you get in the back!"

Within seconds, the Warthog was speeding away from the Covenant forces that had amassed in the hangar.

"Where are we going?" Derek shouted.

"Over the side! You all brought your floaties, right boys?" Tyler shouted back.

The hangar was absolutely massive and it took a few seconds before the Warthog had even gotten close to the edge. Then the door started to close and more Covenant showed up. They were practically pouring from every possible entry and now they were closing the main hangar gate.

"Go faster Derek, faster!" Taquiyy shouted at the top of his lungs.

"This thing can only go so fast!" was Derek's indignant response.

The door was almost completely shut, in a few more seconds, the Covenant would have erased any evidence there were ever any new Spartans created. Then one of the hunters shot off its fuel rod cannon. Tyler was the only one who took notice of this.

"Turn right!" he shouted.

"What? We'll smash into the crates!" Derek hollered in response.

"Just fucking do it!" Tyler screamed back.

With reluctance, Derek braced himself and turned right. The fuel rod cannon hit the ground right behind the Warthog and sent it flying over the crates and through the main gate, just as it closed. The Warthog and the troops toppled down into the water and came up quickly, despite their oxygen tanks.

"Now what, bright eyes?" Taylor asked, almost sounding serious.

"We sink to the bottom and die. Wasn't that obvious?" Tyler bounced back.

"Really?" Veejay interrupted.

"Just swim people! Fucking swim!" he shouted in response.

So, the six Spartans swam to shore, and radioed in an evacuation Pelican. Out of all the possible pilots they could have gotten, they had to get the one person they had hoped they would have never seen again after World War III. The pilot was designated Titan-545 of the Titan frigate. His name was Jacob Osborn.


	3. Chapter Three: Small Universe

"I still can't fucking believe it! Of all the millions of pilots out there in the galaxy, we end up with Osborn!" Taylor shouted, frustrated.

"Don't think I'm any more happy about this! Last I saw you was four years ago when you were on ice," Jacob replied.

The six Spartans were sitting in the back of the Pelican, waiting for when they finally could get off on the frigate, Titan. Until then, they would only have awkward conversations.

"How the hell did you even make it into the program?" Tyler asked.

"I didn't. Dr. Harris told me I was supposed to be preserved due to my expertise with aircraft. I was frozen and when I woke up, you six were in cryo-chambers and Dr. Harris filled me in on the rest of the details. She told me what you were going to become and what I was meant to do." Osborn responded.

"And what were you meant to do?" asked Jared.

"...I was supposed to command a ship...not Titan, though. I blew it when it got destroyed during a high velocity battle against some Covenant assault ships. It wasn't more than a year when they demoted me to flying a Pelican for Titan. This is the 545th Pelican every to fly for Titan. I guess you could call her my baby," he said.

"Okay, just a little weird," Veejay said.

"Hey, we're almost there, just to let you know," Taquiyy said, leaning forward and staring at the massive frigate that hovered over the ocean water.

The Pelican flew up and landed in the hangar, the back door opened up and Jacob left the cockpit as the six Spartans exited and were greeted with a warm approval. All around them, marines and ODSTs cheered them on.

"We don't deserve this praise. The personnel are all dead, and Dr. Harris too," Taylor said, putting his head down.

"She's not dead. I told you, we'll find her. She'll be alright," Tyler said, placing a reassuring hand on the Captain's shoulder. "Until then, let them cheer. It's a good morale boost...for us...and for them."

The six Spartans marched off to the deck, leaving Osborn without so much as another word. The personnel whispered quietly amongst themselves as the Spartans walked onto the deck to greet the General.

"Good evening, sir," Tyler said, shaking the General's hand.

"Please, call me Gerald. General, is too formal for my taste," he replied, smiling.

He had a short, white mustache and a military cap on his head to cover up his bald spot. His rank was stitched onto his left sleeve; the coveted rank of General. "Futiloe, open the floor."

The floor suddenly shifted and was see-through. There was a massive Covenant warship underneath Titan. There were all kinds of UNSC aircraft out fighting the Covenant aircraft.

"We have intelligence that Dr. Harris has been brought to this ship's prison cells. Block D, Section 7, Cell 13," Gerald said.

"Is she alright?" Taylor asked, moving forward.

"We don't know. But we're about to blow the warship to space bits. The only problem is that the doctor's an asset. We can't risk that she's on board, alive. So three of you will just have to go in an find out," was the General's quick response.

"Why only three?" Tyler asked.

"Six Spartans would be too many. Like I said, we don't want to risk destroying the ship while assets are on board," Gerald replied.

"I'll go," Taylor said stepping up closer to the General and raising his hand.

"What the hell. Sign me up too," Taquiyy grunted.

"Taylor, I promised you we'd find her. Time to fulfill that promise," Tyler said, turning to Taylor and smiling.

"Thanks man," Taylor said, returning his superior's smile.

"Good, you three head down to the hangar. Osborn's got your drop pods set up for you. The rest of you..." Gerald turned to face the team, "...head on down to the laser control room and assist in any way possible."

Tyler, Taylor and Taquiyy quickly turned to their fellow teammates and said their goodbyes before heading to the hangar elevator. Osborn was waiting for them at the drop pods.

"Alright. These things are simple. Once they hit the ship, the bottom part will tear open a hole for you and you'll drop down into the ship. Sound easy? It is. Each pod is already loaded with standard assault rifles, magnums and fragmentation grenades. They're designated for the prison cells area of the warship, but they might hit anywhere. Good luck. I'll be sure to talk with you guys later...you know, if you survive," Jacob said, heading off to attend to his Pelican.

The Spartans got inside their pods and pressed the control panel. The doors closed and the pods turned. Then, they dropped. The rockets on the top of the pods helped direct them closer to the back end of the ship, where the prison block was supposed to be.

"Goddammit!" Taquiyy shouted. "My fucking pods has a malfunctioning rocket. Wherever I land, I'll meet up with you guys later. Alright?"

"Got it," Taylor and Tyler said, simultaneously.

The three pods connected with the warship's outer shell, drilling through the shields and other mechanical parts. The drill spiraled open and tore a hole open in the ceiling, just like Osborn had said. The ammo case dropped down and broke open. Then the seat flattened and the Tyler dropped down next to Taylor. Taquiyy had landed somewhere near the hangar. His communication was going staticy and finally cut out. There must be some form of signal jammer on the ship. Taylor looked to Tyler, who just shrugged in response, then picked up his weapons. It was time to stay true on his promise.


	4. Chapter Four: Hard Times Ahead

"Come on! Section 7 is this way! Hurry!" Taylor shouted to Tyler as he sprinted ahead. Though his helmet was on, the fear and excitement in his eyes was unmistakable. The two Spartans turned the corner and ran right into two brutes, guarding Section 7.

There was a four second pause, then one of the brutes shouted, "Kill them!" The one holding the spiker opened fire and two spikes pierced into Taylor's leg as they jumped into cover.

"It's alright, it didn't pierce the shields," Taylor shouted out, poking his head out of the corner and opening fire. The second brute responded with his brute shot, a powerful Covenant grenade launcher. The grenades exploded against the walls and the floor.

"Keep them busy! I have a plan!" Tyler shouted, taking out a laser drill and opening a hole in the ceiling. He jumped up and pulled himself through. After that, he activated the heat vision feature on his HUD and moved through the wires and other odd mechanical parts. The two brutes were shown, still firing at Taylor from cover. Tyler drilled another hole in the ceiling and held the metal before it dropped. He then carefully lowered himself down and took out his combat knife.

The spiker brute turned and saw him, but it was too late. The Field Major jumped onto the brute shot brute's back and sliced open it's neck. The other brute went to help, but Taylor ran forward and leaped on it's back and snapped it's spine.

"Nicely down Captain," Tyler said, laughing a little.

"Likewise, sir. Now, if you excuse me, I have an appointment," Taylor replied, entering the section of the prison block.

"Hold up," Tyler stopped him, "Whatever happens...you make the call on the laser."

"Thanks," was Taylor's quiet reply.

He entered the section and stared into each of the cells. They were filled with the corpses of personnel and marines. He stepped past cell eleven and then stopped at the end of twelve. He swallowed and looked into cell thirteen. Dr. Harris was propped up against the wall...coughing.

Taylor quickly deactivated the shield door and ran in. "Anastasia! Are you okay?" he cried out. She looked up and he saw blood, lots of blood. She had a deadly spiker wound on her stomach. Not even bio-foam could help that, she had lost way too much blood.

"No. No. No, please. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay, you hear me?" Taylor said, taking off his helmet and moving closer to Dr. Harris.

"I knew you'd come," she said, smiling weakly.

"Listen, I'm gonna get you out of here. Alive," Taylor said, taking Anastasia in his arms.

"No, you're not," she coughed up some blood and then spoke again, "Sorry...I won't...be able to...take you...up on that...champagne."

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Taylor said, tears streaming down his face.

"It's...okay...I...just wish we could...have spent...more time together," she gasped out.

"Me too," Taylor replied, giving a weak smile. He leaned in closer and kissed her, his tears running from his face onto hers. He felt her body go limp in his arms and more tears poured out. He sobbed over her corpse, occasionally letting out an angry scream, then gently placed her on the floor. He wiped his tears and then put his helmet back on and opened up a communication link with Titan.

"This is Captain Savoie...blow these motherfuckers out of the air. Now."


	5. Chapter Five: Bad Call

"Why the fuck did you have to call it in that fast?" Tyler screamed. Him and Taylor were bolting through the Covenant warship as the frigate, Titan's MAC cannon began to prime for fire.

"I got caught up in the moment! Besides, these fuckers need to die after what they did to Annastasia!" Taylor shouted back.

A group of four brutes and about a dozen grunts came sprinting around the corner. Trying to avoid any confrontation, Tyler pushed Taylor against the wall and the two waited until the Covenant group had passed out of sight before moving on.

"Veejay! Slow down the MAC cannon! We're still inside the ship and we have no fucking clue where Taquiyy is. We have to find him and then leave before you destroy the warship!" Tyler said through a COM channel with his teammate.

"We can't stop it! It's past the thirty percent marker. When it hits one-hundred, you'd better be out of that ship," Veejay replied with a whiny tone.

Tyler pressed his back to another corner and peered out. When he saw it was clear, he moved forward and responded. "How long until the cannon is fully primed?"

"Thirteen minutes and forty-two seconds," came Veejay's grim response.

"Copy that," Tyler said, disconnecting the connection with Veejay and rounding a corner sharply. The warship was a maze, but the basic map structure that was being projected on his HUD was enough for him to get a general sense of the hangar's location. He was positive that the hangar would have cleared out by now, but they could still jump and propel away from the doomed warship. As the pair turned a corner, a few grunts ran past them, arms flailing in the air. They were screaming. Taylor was about to shoot them down when Tyler pushed his assault rifle down and gestured furiously towards a locked door. They had reached the final stretch.

Tyler quickly took out the energy saw and cut open the door. He stepped out into a long hallway. It seemed almost a mile or two long, probably because it was. At the other end, would be the hangar. A loud noise echoed through the ship and the entire thing shook madly. The Field Major and the Captain were knocked against the wall.

Tyler opened up another COM channel with Veejay and shouted, "What the fuck was that? I thought the cannon wouldn't be ready to fire for a few more minutes!"

"Sorry. Made a bit of an error. I meant to say three minutes...not thirteen. I'd move if I were you," Veejay said. Before another word could be shared, Tyler disconnected and bolted down the hallway, Taylor following at his heels. Halfway down the hallway, Tyler took a glance back and saw a fiery wall of laser fire streaming down after them.

"Fuck! Run faster! Haul ass!" Tyler shouted, pushing himself faster. He whipped out the energy saw and primed it for the approaching locked door. As soon as they reached it he began slicing open a quick hole. He gestured Taylor through and then took another quick look to the wall of fire. Then he dove through and the two bolted for the hangar.

Static came up on the radio signal and a familiar voice appeared on the COM channel.

"You ladies need a pickup?"

"Taquiyy? Where are you?" Tyler blurted out.

A phantom flew in and hovered next to the platform Tyler and Taylor were on.

"Right here. Get in!" Taquiyy shouted over the channel.

The two hopped in and the phantom sped off as the MAC cannon consumed what was left of the Covenant warship.

"Does every mission we go on have to end with a death-defying escape?" Taylor panted out.

"Hell yeah. That's what makes our jobs so exciting," Tyler laughed over the mic.

"Hoo-rah!" Taquiyy shouted confidently from the cockpit.

"Amen to that," Taylor huffed.

The phantom sped off towards Titan as Taquiyy put out a signal for the ship not to fire. Soon the three of them would be sitting safely inside the frigate. Tyler looked to Taylor, and although his helmet was on, he could tell what Taylor had on his mind. Dr. Harris would be greatly missed. She was a very intelligent woman, a very beautiful woman and a very important friend, especially to Taylor.


	6. Chapter Six: Zero Recovery

"That was reckless as all hell, Captain! You could have single-handedly cost us three assets!" Gerald fumed, as Taylor stood before him.

"With all due respect, sir, we completed our mission without losing any assets," Taylor grunted out, the restraint showing with each new word.

"What about Dr. Harris? She was an asset; worth all you lot combined," Gerald hollered, the tension in his voice echoed as he finished his rant and by the look of his face, he had almost immediately regretted saying what he did. There was no chance he'd admit it though.

"Sir, Dr. Harris had been fatally injured by the time we reached her. She was beyond saving," Tyler said, stepping forward before Taylor had a chance to snap back at the General. There was a long pause, a bellowing silence that drifted throughout the room as each person became lost within their thoughts. Then, the General reluctantly spoke.

"Very well. I have a new mission for your team. There is a large group of marines and civilians that have taken refuge in a hotel complex in New Elyaisa. They are completely pinned down and the Covenant has set up anti-air guns, so…we can't get to them. Normally, I'd write it off as a casualty of war, but there is an ODST team with them that found something…interesting. It's a Covenant beacon, from what we understand so far. It relays medium-proximity Covenant aircraft. I don't need to explain to you why this is an incredible find. Your job, is to go there, disable the AA guns so that we can get our birds in there, and I want your team to personally take control of the package and get it back to this ship. Is that understood?" Gerald finally finished.

"Yes sir," Tyler replied.

"Good. Osborn will be waiting for you in the hangar. Good luck," Gerald finished before he sat down in a seat and began calmly and quite deliberately working on a computer screen. The team filed out of the room, back to the hangar.

Osborn was relaxing inside the Pelican and almost on the verge of sleep when Tyler rapped on the side. He shot up in his seat and whirled around to see the team climbing into the ship, and with a disappointed grunt, he started up the Pelican, closed the back door and took off. It was deathly quiet inside the ship. Occasionally one team member would glance at another, but nothing was spoken. Derek finally broke the ice.

"So how are we doing this?" he asked, leaning in towards Tyler.

"Two teams of three. Me, you and Taylor are Alpha. Veejay, you Jared and Taquiyy are Beta. There are two AA guns, one on either side of the hotel, both set up in courtyards with little to no surrounding structures, aside from the hotel. We have to take them out and get into the hotel; we'll be doing that last part using the access tunnels that are located right underneath the AA guns. Those'll bring us straight in and from there we round everybody up and move to the roof," Tyler finished, with a solemn authority.

"What about the package?" Jared inquired with vague interest.

"We'll secure it once we're inside. Osborn will pick us up on the roof after the others are safe and we'll head back to Titan. Simple. Any more questions?" Tyler said, with what almost resembled a challenging tone. No one said anything more. "Okay, good…good. Osborn? How much farther?"

"5 minutes…and hold your damn horses…sir," came the reply from the cockpit.

It wasn't more than 2 minutes before the Pelican shook violently and began to twist through the air.

"What the fuck? What's going on?" Taquiyy shouted over the noise of the Pelican.

"AA gun got us. Covenant must have extended its range. Brace for impact!" Osborn screamed back. The Pelican twisted a little more and then jolted as it slammed into the ground. It slid, grinding against the pavement for a few more moments before coming to a halt in front of a wall. Everybody gave a quick sigh of relief. Osborn was the only one who didn't. "Shit. I've got to repair this. How the hell else will we get out of here?"

"We'll hitch a ride. Now come on. Stay close and try and keep up," Tyler said, already stepping out of the wreckage.

"I'm going with you guys?" Osborn asked incredulously.

"That's right. Pack your bags…oh and…keep your head down," Tyler replied tossing Osborn a magnum. Then he turned and strode off at a brisk pace, his team right behind him, Osborn in the rear, running to catch up.


	7. Chapter Seven: Massacre

The massive hotel loomed over the city like a dark conqueror. The gunfire and explosions only made that image more fervent in Tyler's mind as he stole a look around a corner and turned to his team. He looked at Osborn for a few moments and then finally said, "We're not splitting up. If we do, it'll be near-impossible to protect him," gesturing to Osborn, whose face turned red and he indignantly stared at the ground. "Look, though. We're right up against the first courtyard. We'll disable this gun, and then move into the hotel through the tunnels."

"Sounds like a plan," Jared shrugged. The others nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then. Let's do this." Taquiyy growled under his breath. The group moved forward, sticking to cover, waiting to strike. They advanced into the courtyard, where the AA gun was sitting, waiting for a shot. It wouldn't get one. Tyler motioned the team. Within moments, the grunts around the base of the gun were dead and the two jackals up top weren't fast enough to save themselves either.

"This must be the back of the hotel, then. There's barely any concentration of Covenant troops here," Veejay remarked, with a smirk.

"A-a-a-and…done," Taylor said, and stuck his head over the side of the upper level of the AA gun.

"The hell? How'd you…" Tyler began to say.

"I like to work fast," Taylor said with a hint of sarcasm as he dropped a handful of wires down.

"Works for me," Tyler said as he walked over to the corner of the courtyard to a hatch on the ground. With sudden realization, he sprinted out of the courtyard and towards the side of the hotel. The others ran after him with haste, asking what was going on. They turned the corner and saw two Hunters lumbering closer to the front door of the hotel. "Deal with them!" Tyler shouted and then motioned for Taquiyy and Derek and ran inside the hotel. They were met with gunfire, but not trained on the door; the marines were shooting at something that had gotten inside. The Covenant had used the tunnels to get inside and flank the marines. Some were still alive, holding out desperately near the elevators against a slew of incoming brutes.

Taquiyy burst ahead of Tyler and Derek as they were running to help. Without a moment of hesitation, he launched himself into a brute, knocking it to the ground. He promptly whirled around, pulling his knife out of its sheath at his side and slit the brute's throat. Tyler and Derek open fired on the others, forcing them back into a corner. But Taquiyy didn't stop; he continued to violently hurl himself into the Covenant apes and slaughtered them until finally, there were none left to slaughter.

When the fighting was over, the clang of metal on metal echoed as Taylor, Veejay, and Jared entered with Osborn close-behind, his face twisted into an expression of death and excitement.

"You missed all the action out there. Not often you get to rip a Hunter's spine out and kill a brute with it. Oh…," he trailed off as he saw the many corpses on the floor, "I guess you didn't miss all the action, huh?"

"So how many are left?" Tyler asked, as the two remaining marines escorted them down a hallway on the 14th floor.

"Aside from what's left of us and that ODST team, there are about fifty-two civvies left," one marine replied.

"We still need to disable the other gun. Don't be forgetting tha…" Osborn began to say.

"We won't have to. We disabled one and there are barely any troops on that side. We'll clear the tunnels and move the civvies through the tunnels, get out of reach of the gun and call in our birds. Clear?" Tyler asked, turning to each member of his team in turn. They all, once again, nodded in response. "Derek, go with Taquiyy and Taylor to guard the front door. Jared, Veejay…you two are with me. We're going to clear out the tunnels. But first…" he trailed off and headed for the ODST team that were sitting in the corner.

"Can we help you?" one of them asked.

"You have a package that we need," Tyler said, hand outstretched. One of the ODSTs reached over and picked up a metallic box and handed it to Tyler.

"It's on the inside," he explained. Tyler nodded and headed to the elevators with his team, package in-hand. As they began to descend, everyone readied their weapons. Red dots had appeared on their radar, and they were well-inside the hotel lobby.

"Well boys…" Taquiyy said, as he drew his knife, "…time to play." As he finished, the doors opened and all hell broke loose.


End file.
